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But summer is almost over. The ministry year is planned. (Or, maybe you’re really stressed because it’s not!) As one who’s learned the value of taking care of my own soul (and paid the price for not doing it), let me encourage you to get out your calendar & find time. Make time. Cancel something if necessary. We can’t afford not to.

Ruth Haley Barton spoke to a group of leaders in my area a few years ago from her book Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership. A friend and I drove to hear her. I laughed a little too loud and identified all too well as Ruth described her experience with burnout at age 30. Maybe I was the only one in the room who’d also sprinted in her shoes. (I doubt it.) The elbow flying into my ribcage confirmed my friend wanted me to really hear Ruth.

Robin Williams "had it all"--notoriety, meaningful work, money, a stellar career, a wife who adored him, close friends, a good reputation, the joy of helping needy people--yet, this week, alone and despondent, he hung himself in his bedroom. Also, the news reported that police found a pocket knife close to his body that he used to self-inflict "superficial injuries." Nobody's laughing now, as people search for answers. The truth is that Robin Williams didn't have it all. From what we know, he didn't have Jesus or a relationship with His Creator. That empty God sized vacuum within him swallowed up all that other stuff like a black hole. All the other stuff wasn't enough. I know. I've been in that dark place too.

Celebrations are beautiful moments to remember God’s blessings and goodness and to experience beauty and happiness. This past weekend I had the privilege of celebrating the marriage of a friend and reunite with other dear friends.

These were moments of laughter. Honor. Hope.
At the same time I was well aware of hurt and injustice around the world.

Just got home from taking my student to walk her schedule and practice opening her locker at her new school. Despite all the fears that come with her disability—you can read about that here—I feel so thankful for God’s faithfulness in Anna’s life, as she gets ready to start junior high in a few weeks.

My husband and I recently took an Alaskan cruise. As we settled ourselves for sailaway in front of large windows on one of the highest decks, I heard a little girl ask, "Did we start moving yet? How will we know when we're moving?" I don't know what her mother said, but I do know the answer: you fix your gaze on what isn't moving.

I was looking at the building in this picture I took; when the ship starting pushing away from the pier, I knew we were moving because of our view through the window in relation to the stationary building.

We are sitting at Turner Field in Atlanta, watching the Braves take on the Washington Nationals. A batter steps up to the plate, a lanky left-hander, tightly circling his bat. Two nights earlier he hit two home runs out of four times at the plate. Atlanta’s best pitcher eyes him over the rim of his glove, then winds up and throws. The batter pops it up impossibly, third-deck high. We let out a whoop. And everyone around us turns and stares.

Eight days with junior high kids on a mission trip in South Carolina may not sound like a blast to you, but they were for me in more in so many ways. Love for mission trips are part of my heart, my DNA, how God created me. I love serving on mission and being on mission, especially internationally.

Ever visit a different country and find yourself wishing the Americans you run into were less boisterous? Do you want them to tone it down when they guffaw in the subways or talk louder than everyone else in the room? Not everybody values “outgoing and friendly” as much as Americans. Sometimes the very extroversion we view as an asset in the West looks like arrogance or socially inept behavior in the East.

We are experiencing a mentoring crisis. One key reason is that too many older women cling to an outdated formulaic idea of what mentoring is all about. When we hear the word "mentoring" we conjure up a picture that fit our experience as a young woman. Then we look in the mirror and don't see an adequate mentor staring back at us. Our preconceived ideas about what today's young women want in a mentor convince us we are not enough—but we are wrong. What we don't realize is that younger women today are far more likely to want a relationship with the woman in the mirror than the conjured-up perfect mentor in our head.

When my brother and I scrambled around looking for lost objects, my mom (like mothers around the globe) would say, "Go back to where you had it last." We'd trudge back to the kitchen and find our homework in the fridge next to the milk. Or we'd sheepishly discover our keys still in the front door lock. Or when we got to the porch, we'd remember that after the water fight we'd gone to the fort, where the missing shoe was waiting for us.

“What do I tell a woman who loves the Lord with all her heart? Who feels called to His service? We have women desiring to leave their husbands and children. Abandon their homes. To go and preach.”

Eyes full of his own thoughts, he observes my face, watching for my response. I taste the tension in his words. The tension every woman feels with warring desires in her heart. I know what it is to feel the emotion he described. To desire to be used for God’s kingdom.

My head knows the answer he wants to hear. My heart knows its own longing. That longing has prompted many late-night conversations and turned the path of my own study towards God.

Like me, you hear the stories of a jet blown out of the sky, bodies falling and bloating in the Ukranian sun. No one allowed to gather them and send them home to their grieving families. In Europe. And you sense that some line has been crossed. Christians flee Mosul, Iraq, their community’s home for thousands of years, with only the clothes on their backs (see Gwen's post below). Another line crossed.

Maybe also like me, the churn in the world amplifies the churn of bad news in your own family and friends--careers disrupted, separation--news that has you "writing the book" with heartbreaking storylines. Do we let the dread overwhelm us? Or do we take action to dispel it? Here are five things we can do to live from a confident faith:

Imagine being awakened by loudspeakers travelling through your neighborhood blaring an ultimatum to you as a Christian; convert to Islam, pay a religious tax, face death or leave. For those of us who live today in a society protected from such overt Government persecution, it is chilling to read of these very circumstances facing believers in rebel-occupied Iraq.

I took another drink of coffee and braced myself. After a week off on vacation, I knew the day would bring a flurry of emails, reports, errands, and chores. Have you ever noticed how much harder Monday feels after being away?

In my mind, I started making my lists. But then my eyes settled onto these familiar words: "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" (Ps. 46:10).

I've read those words—even memorized them—countless times before. But now I needed to know what they meant.

When people talk to me about what the Bible says regarding the role of women in ministry, usually they’re asking if I think a woman may preach. But these folks don’t actually ask “Do you think women may preach?” They ask if I’m a complementarian or an egalitarian. Why? Because the complementarian and egalitarian camps appear to be the two opposing poles in the debate about whether the Bible restricts women from participating in some ministries. Especially public ones.

Does just being able to “get the job done” qualify someone to be a leader in Jesus’ Church? Is it wise to assume that someone volunteering to fill a leadership role knows how to do it well without training? The answer to both questions is, “No.” Large churches as well as small churches need to provide leadership training for everyone who is overseeing a ministry team, activity, or project. All training should include not just “what you will do” but also “who you are to be” as a servant-leader in Jesus’ Church. This might help to circumvent the “it’s my ministry” mentality.

We are experiencing a mentoring crisis today. Kregel Publications just released our new book based on research conducted by my friend and former student Barbara Neumann that explores a new approach that we believe will revolutionize mentoring today. We begin with our personal stories...

You wouldn’t normally notice her. Her desire was to be inconspicuous. She was parked under a scrawny tree in the middle of an empty, sizzling parking lot.

I hurriedly drove past her intent on beating the lunch crowd. Her car doors were open. The contents of her life swelled to the roof and eagerly anticipated the consumption of her car. She was still there when I returned an hour later.

This is probably the biggest question, and the biggest obstacle to trusting God, in Christianity. It's a legitimate question, and it deserves a thoughtful answer that honors the amount of pain attached to it. Disclosure: I am writing this while beset by the most physical pain I've experienced since post-polio syndrome started attacking my body with the "unholy trinity" of pain, weakness and fatigue. It hurts to stand, it hurts to walk. Every single step.

Why does God allow it? And my pain is nothing compared to the horrific suffering of millions around the world. Doesn't He care? Why doesn't He stop it—surely He can. He could stop it all with a single word. So why does He let innocent people—especially children, for heaven's sake—suffer?